Fleeting Memories
by tchingchow
Summary: As a stay at home mother, Haruka contemplates getting a job... But her boys are just so precious...


A/N: Hehehe... Hey again fanfictioners. This is just something old that I'd written a while ago and I thought I should post it up for the heck of it. Anyways, enjoy!

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**_Fleeting memories_**  
_By tchingchow_

On a pleasant Tuesday afternoon, Hikari Haruka found herself at a table musing over cookbooks for a new recipe to try. Propping up her chin with her palm, she looked up idly where a neighbor was trimming the hedge that grew between their houses.

"Maybe I should get a job," she thought with a sigh. Then she glanced over at an open picture album where there lay a picture of tot-version Saito and Netto.

"But my boys are growing up so fast, and I don't want to miss a second…" she smiled at the photo, "My boys, still as wonderful as ever. I so clearly remember when they were that age, always sticking together…"

_((Flashback))_

"_Ne_, Saito-_nii-chan_, let's go play outside!" cried four-year-old Netto.

"Alright Netto-kun. What do you wanna do first?" Saito replied.

"I dunno, you pick!"

"_Ano_…we could help mama pick the weeds out of the garden..."

Netto scrunched up his face at the idea, "Nii-chan, that's so BORING! Let's go climb a tree, or run in circles till we can't stand up!"

"But isn't that dangerous, Netto-kun?"

"_Iie_! It's only fun! Fun fun!!" Netto exclaimed waving his arms about for emphasis. Grinning, Netto snatched Saito by the arm and dragged over to a nearby tree.

"C'mon, help me up!" he said to his brother.

A few scratches and scrapes later, the two of them successfully climbed halfway up the tree and out onto a sturdy looking branch.

"Wai! I can see the whole world!" said Netto leaning forwards, "Look there's Meiru-chan's house and the meanie, Dekao's house and Tohru's house and Higsby-san's shop!"

"The world's not that small," said Saito.

"Oh yeah? Well prove it! Have you seen anything more than this?"

"_Iie_, demo…"

"Ha! You can't prove it!" said Netto who was practically beaming with triumph.

Frowning, Saito looked over at the park which was occupied with a few children their age along with their parents.

"Say, Netto-kun, look! The park has a lot of people today!"

"Yeah! Let's go, _nii-chan_!!" Without hesitation, Netto leaped down from the branch.

"Netto-kun!" cried Saito who had just started climbing back down the tree.

"C'mon slow poke! I'm not waiting!" Netto shouted as he ran over to the park nearby. Quickening his pace, the latter reached the ground level soon after and ran over to catch up with Netto. Saito arrived to see Netto already giggling away with a group that suddenly formed around him. However, Saito was feeling a bit shy with so many people around and turned instead to the unpopulated swings.

"Netto-kun is so lucky," Saito thought, "I must be so boring. He always says my ideas are no fun and his ideas always turn out better anyways…"

Sighing, Saito scudded his feet along the woodchips under him. Suddenly, Saito felt a shadow cast on him and looked up to see none other than Netto grinning down at him.

"Netto-kun? Why aren't you playing with them?"

The other shrugged, "You're my favorite person to play with. C'mon I'll push you and when it's my turn you'll push me, okay?"

Saito stared up at Netto before breaking into a smile, "_Hai_!"

After a little while, the brothers were so preoccupied, they didn't notice that Meiru had arrived until Dekao came and started bullying everyone.

"Gimme that!" he said as he took the truck away from a smaller boy in the sandpit.

"Hey!"

"Dekao, that wasn't nice," said Meiru, who was building a sand castle, "Give it back to him!"

"No way! I wanna play with it!"

At this Meiru stood up furiously, "Dekao, you better give it back to him right now!"

"I don't wanna!" said Dekao mowing over Meiru's sand castle with a sneer.

"M-my sand castle!"

"Saito-_nii-chan_," said Netto looking at his brother.

The other responded with a nod and the two ran over.

"Hey, you better cut that out," said Netto.

"Huh? Or else what?" Dekao challenged.

"Or else, me and _nii-chan_ are gonna beat you up!" Netto replied defiantly.

"Oh yeah? Just try it!"

With that, Dekao lunged at them while Netto and Saito tackled him together and eventually wrestled away the stolen truck.

"Netto-_kun_, Saito-_kun_…" Meiru murmured.

"Don't worry, Meiru-chan," said Saito wiping at dirt and grass stains, "We'll help you build an even better sand castle!"

Meiru smiled, "Un! Arigatou!"

_((End of flashback))_

Haruka sighed again smiling at the memory, "My boys are really something…"

As soon as she finished the thought, there was a slam of the door and loud bickering filled the house.

"_Nani_?! I would have gotten the homework done if I hadn't had that mission!"

"Mission?? That finished in less than an hour! You had plenty of time to do the assignment! It's your own fault that you decided to go net battle at the arcade even when I told you specifically to go home and do your homework!"

"_Urusai_! You're really annoying, you know that, Rockman?"

"Yeah? Well at least I'm not the one failing on tests. And it's my job to remind you, yanno!"

The voices dimmed slightly as Netto went up the stairs and slammed the door to his room closed.

"Not even a 'hello'?" Haruka asked getting up from her seat to see Netto's socks and muddy shoes strewn all over the entryway.

Drawing in a long breath, she bent over and began picking up after Netto.

"Now about that job…"


End file.
